I have been incredibly lucky the last three months being able to keep up working, blogging and building my business. The last week or so the house of cards has wobbled quite a lot. My boys have started commenting on how much time I spend on the computer when I never did before. Work has picked up so there is not much down-time to catch up on some surreptitious yarn research. And to cap it all, my younger son has been very free-handed with a virus he’s bought home from school. So I’m feeling a little overwhelmed and under-performing at the moment. I also have a couple of questions which I was hoping to get some help with.

I’m designing a knitting kit for a pop-up shop to be located in the local Tourist Office. It’s my first proper foray into designing from scratch and it’s been a fascinating journey. It involves colour work and right now I’m struggling with producing a professional looking version of the pattern – any ideas which software I should invest in?

I also have a new best-friend. I yarn winder. I bought it second-hand and didn’t realise that the little metal arm which controls tension, is lost. Never having used this contraption before, I’m not sure how dense the yarn balls should be. Mine come out squat and dense and I wonder whether the hand-held tension is just stretching the yarn and ultimately damaging it. What should the yarn ball feel like after you’ve used the yarn winder?

I was genuinely hoping to finish some of the projects which I want to blog about but I’ve spent quite a lot of time sleeping but not feeling much better for it. Well, never mind, it can only get better. The good news is that I’m working on a floor cushion sized version of the Garter Stitch Round Cushion which I blogged about in March. It’s almost finished but it has become somewhat of an arm-wrestle each time I pick it up – the yarn weight, needle size and sheer amount of fibre is getting a challenge to manipulate. I’m more than 3/4 done so watch this space.

Today has been so beautiful that we’ve spent quite a lot of time outside. Not only did we see the first swan brood with 9 cygnets but also the first duck brood of 7 ducklings. I don’t have pictures of those but I was really struck by these beautiful trees, or rather their bark. I think it makes a nice change from yarn to share these!

Thanks for reading and hope you can point me in the right direction with both my questions.

7 Responses to Help Please – Some Questions which Need an Answer

Well it sounds as if you have been extremely busy. It’s hard to build a business or even just to build a following on a blog without spending lots of computer time doing it. All you can do is try to set time aside when the boys are doing something else to work at the computer.
As far as computer programs for writing I wish I knew some. I have written a few patterns but I am a computer dummy so I pass my notes off to my daughter who edits and tests the pattern and turns it into a PDF file. I would like a program for writing though cause I think it would organize my writing before sending it to my daughter.

Isn’t it funny? I’m planning on having my boys look at this problem – there is just something about the younger generation that seems to find all computer related problems easier than us.
Thanks for your comments – helps to know people understand.

Wow you are busy. It is so hard to find a balance. You’ll get there eventually.
I have no suggestion for the pattern thing.
The tension on your yarn should be minor. Winding a ball tight enough to hold the shape but not so tight as to stretch the yarn is best. Also I wouldn’t wind the ball until you are ready to use it. The yarn is a bit stressed once wound and can change your gauge.

Thanks!
Tried with another one today – yes, I know I should leave alone, but it’s so therapeutic winding yarn : )
My husband rigged up a sort of tension hook from a metal hanger. It works like a dream although looks somewhat odd.

I’m not particularly great at computer software either, but having seen a few of these kits I think you could get away with a simple word document which has a nice background image. If you insert a picture and on the picture settings up the brightness so it is lighter you can then insert a text box over the top of it and still read the writing.
Ok, there are better ways of doing this no doubt but unless you want to invest in software this should be ok if you pick the right image/s.
The floor cushion sounds interesting, can’t wait to see the pictures!

I’m afraid I can’t help you with any of your queries but I must admit I’d love a yarn winder as they remind me of my Mum and her knitting machine that would make her curse so much when all the stitches fell off! Thanks for bringing that lovely memory back for me and I hope you feel better and more positive soon. BTW the dreaded Beales left a message on my phone – I wonder what they want????